Mondays are....

Mondays are fun at Fab-Etc. Except, I left kind of a mess from Saturday that Diane and I had to deal with today. We were busy and I just ran out of steam by the end of the day Saturday! So, she and I cleaned up and played a bit with the design of the Tri-County quilt. Then our wonderful UPS driver came and brought some fun buttons and notions for us to put out for your enjoyment! (I hate having empty slots in the thread rack and now for a moment at least, they are all full!)

This is the class Diane is going to have starting in a couple of weeks. It's the McKenna Ryan "Back on the Farm" quilt. You'll have to look at hers on the design wall when you come in. Diane is THE MASTER when it comes to putting the fabrics together to create these projects. If you are at all interested, sign up and take advantage of her wealth of artistic and sewing knowledge.

Okay, I'm sending all of you who are on the e-mail list our latest update tonight! So, I'm back to that right now. Hope your evening is wonderful!

Community service...

This is a picture of a wonderful group of gals (plus Verna, who's cutting off to the right)! They are members of Moonlight Quilt Guild. Nikki is the chairman of the Community Service committee this year. She asked a couple of weeks ago if they could use the class area to make fleece hats to be given to some of the homeless in our area. We were thrilled to have them come and sew tonight. As I left, the machines were going full speed and the hats were looking great!

Today was good at Fab-Etc. We got some notions and some very fun fabrics from Michael Miller....now to find an appropriate home for them! Hmmmmm....could require a bit of shuffling on my part. Jan finished an apron from a panel that Harriet started (we have such a great team here!) Then, she and I "played" a bit more with our Tri-County creation. Izzie put some new Kwik Sew patterns in the drawer and we received a few books that she found homes for. Oh, and the Shop Hop newsletters have arrived! And, I keep forgetting to mention that we have the tickets for Sew Expo. You save $2 over the "at the door" price by purchasing them in advance ($10-advance $12-at event).

Have a binding to sew on and a block to finish. Night all!

Applique the Tracey Way....

Isn't this the doggone cutest little sample!?! This is what the students get to make this Saturday in Tracey's class - I've named her class "Applique the Tracey Way". I am nowhere close to being as skilled as Tracey is, but so far, this is the only way I know how to applique....and you'll probably remember that I said the silk thread made me look even more like I knew what I was doing! At any rate, there are still a couple of spots open in this class and her Victoria Bag class that meets later in the day, in case you're interested.

Jan and I had a great day today! We got to cross things off of the "To Do" list, which is always a good feeling. We've also been working on our Tri-County quilt - Smooth Sailing - the event is a Quilt Tour and happens March 24-27. Remember, it's the one where each of us makes a quilt using the same 15 blocks, only each quilt is different - in our case, it was very different. The one from last year is the one in the class area that's the starry sky and village underneath where "all roads lead to a fabric store". This year's theme is nautical, so we've been planning a few things - hope I can make it look the way I see it in my head! Once the Fabettes put their minds and skills to it, they'll make it look even better than I could even imagine!

Okay, a few dishes still in the sink and a laundry basket full of dirty clothes and towels. Hope your evening is even more fun than that!

Love notes.....

The name of the little pattern for this is called "Nifty Notes" from This and That, but Jan and I are calling this project"Love Notes". She used the pattern to make some of these darling little 3" x 5" notepad holders for her littler nieces at Christmas time. They were a huge hit! So, we thought some made with Valentine fabrics would be great too. She also used that wonderful print with the "friends" sayings to make one....take a look at them on the bookcase next time you are in the shop. We think you'll like them!

Well, it's Saturday night already...where did the week go? I took part of the day off yesterday to do some bookwork and go have lunch with my Mom. Harriet and Linda held things together over at the shop for me. Of course, everything was humming along smoothly when I got there! We got a few more bolts of flannel yesterday....I really want to make a "guy-type" quilt using some of them, but there's this little matter of a Tri-County Quilt Tour project that NEEDS to get done! Today, my sales rep from Moda came and believe it or not, I ordered Christmas 2010 fabric....it was a challenge.

So, what are your plans this weekend? I'm going to finish up some year-end "stuff" and play a bit with my log cabin project. And of course, there's the laundry and that tidying up thing too! Hope you have a glorious Sunday!

Playing with circles...

On my Twitter account last night I mentioned that Jan and I were playing with something new yesterday and I would try and get a picture. Well, it's definitely a work in progress, but here it is! It's a pattern we've had for a while called "Pearl District" by Busy Bee Quilt Design. I might have mentioned that we were trying to think of as many Valentine projects as we could - ones we could actually get done in a reasonable amount of time (like before Valentine's Day!) We have this Valentine charm pack, plus some other "leftovers" from our previous projects and decided to try the pattern out. Today Jan and I waited on customers and made circles in between times. While Izzie was rolling Fat Tuesday FQ's, we tried to get it in some sort of order that looked random - why does that take so much planning and moving? Whew! Finally we just said get the Roxanne's Glue and baste them down! So, I got them sewn to the backgrounds and started to put them together. We didn't make ours as long as the pattern - 62" seemed longer than most of us might want (plus it added to the probability that we could actually finish it!) They didn't use ric rac....and that border is just a leftover strip we had, so it's not a for sure. Planning on fiddling around some more tomorrow with it after my sales rep leaves.

So, that was our fun today! Hope your day was equally enjoyable. Last night was our first KT Klub meeting and Tracey did her usual fantastic job of teaching and inspiring us with some great blocks for a sampler quilt. FYI, she's scheduled her class on the Victoria Bag and Applique the Tracey Way. Check it out on the website.

Just heard the washing machine click off, so off to throw clothes in the dryer and maybe make a couple of Log Cabin blocks while I'm waiting for it all to dry....I WILL finish this abandoned project! Have a great evening.

Yikes....stripes...

So....remember that placemat I showed you the other day? Well, as Jan was finishing that, I commented on how it was too bad we didn't have a Valentine's stripe this year that we could do one of our 60 degree runners out of. Then, inspiration hit! We had often thought about doing this, so why not? Let's make our own striped fabric! We quickly decided on three fabrics (which is monumental in itself - we rarely decide on any fabric choices quickly!) Jan sewed and I pressed and voila...a fun 60 degree runner made from three fabrics. Yesterday, Jan worked with me and she layered and quilted it. We'll have it up on the wall sometime Monday.

So, today the plan is to do some paperwork, tidy up a bit, a little laundry, a "To Do Note" for Harriet and Diane on Monday morning (Tri-County meeting in Mt. Vernon for me), maybe dinner with my Mom and then play with some fabric! I am absolutely determined to finish the project I found in my cleaning of the sewing room. It's a large log cabin quilt for our bed....probably at the half way point, if not further. I also am fiddling with the leftover Honeybun strips from my Valentine's basket and designing a tablerunner...I think? We'll see if it works!

Have a wonderful Sunday everybody!!

Moving day....

Remember last time, I told you that Harriet was coming to work today and we were going to move fabric? WOW, we got it done and we both had to admit that it was one of the smoothest fabric moves ever. Only break we really took was to surprise her with a birthday cake - Monday was her birthday!

So, tomorrow Jan and I are going to continue to play with our Valentine fabrics. This is a picture of the Valentine placemat Jan made on Tuesday using the pattern "Table Graces" and a fun retro Valentine print from In The Beginning fabrics - isn't it great? Not to mention, it's quick and simple.

So, if you find yourself in our neighborhood, stop by and check things out....last day the Christmas fabrics will be 50% off. Have a wonderful weekend!

Here's the story....

Remember yesterday I said I'd try and show you what I had been playing with on the design wall? And I had a story to go with it? Don't I always?!? Okay, here's the story. I ordered this fun dark blue, yellow and white fabric because I liked the pattern the sales rep showed me. So, after the holiday fun, I decided that I would cut it out and put it together. I was even more thrilled when I saw that the flying geese at the outside edges could be made using Eleanor Burns' Flying Geese Ruler! Yippee!! And for a new adventure in tools, it uses the EZ Companion Angle, which I just happened to have in stock and had never used. So, without thinking too much, I grabbed the dot, the yellow, the background and those great retro-ish daisies. Sunday, I decided to play a bit with it. Got it to the point where I could put it up on the wall Monday. I stood back to admire it and then had those famous "second thoughts". Had I chosen a yellow that was too bright? Hmmmm..... So, if you look closely, you'll see that there are actually three yellows now in the picture. And they don't show up quite as they do in person. We've been taking a poll all week long and unfortunately, so far there is no definitive answer. So, if you're in, please give us your "yellow vote" - ok?

Today was fun - Tea Party! And Lynn brought these wonderful walnuts with a cinnamon sugar-y coating. WOW. We'll have to get the recipe and put it on the website.

Getting ready to move fabric around on Friday....Harriet's going to be there and she'll be glad because I got even more flannel today, but I have an idea of where it will all fit happily together! This flannel is from Moda and is a great guy-type outdoor print with yummy herringbone coordinates.

Have to go run and take the Tea Party linens out of the washer....next up will be more Valentine's fun - Jan's "Love Notes", as we're calling them! Until then.....

January 5th....

Gosh, how did it get to be January 5th already and I haven't posted in over a week!! Well, by way of a partial epxlanation, this is a picture of another "Honeybun Basket" I made using some Honeybun strips we cut of the Valentine fabrics. Isn't it just the cutest darn thing? I just got back from the grocery store where I was picking up a couple of things for the Tea Party tomorrow and I noticed they already had all of the pink Valentine candies out. Wouldn't they be fun to put in here? Or, since you can use a plastic liner, how about a little plant? Or, better yet, why not fill it with fat quarters or sewing "stuff". Anyway, you get the idea - right? We have some strips cut and rolled for you, if you're interested.

What's the rest of my story? Well, a couple of things. It's been pretty busy at the shop the last week. We just received the new Laurel Burch line - it's gorgeous, as usual! And don't tell Harriet 'cuz she worked so hard to get the flannel up off the floor (for the most part), but we got more flannel! We do have a particularly wonderful collection right now. Have on the "We really should...." list making some flannel PJ pants with one of the New Look patterns we just received. Soon.....

And, when I was doing a CLEANING of my sewing area a month or so ago, I found a great log cabin project I had started, oh, just a few years ago. It was all cut out and the blocks were well under way, but for some reason, it got set aside and never picked up again - oops. Well, I am determined to finish it. The original pattern was called "Log Cabin in Neutrals". Sad thing is, all I have is a faded photocopy of the cover, so I may have to wing it a bit, but I WILL get it done - it's 102" x 102" and would look good on my bed. Imagine that, a project for myself....hmmmm.

Okay, laundry to finish, cheese and oranges to slice for tomorrow. If you find yourself in the neighborhood, why not pop in for one of Jan's stupendous scones? Tea is served from 12:00-2:00. Stay for a few minutes, or the whole two hours! I'll try to blog my design wall project, complete with accompanying story tomorrow! (Don't I always have a story to tell?) Night all.